photographer, Reuters
The presidents of Turkey and Russia held another round of talks over the war in Ukraine
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on Thursday about the details of his phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the conversation, Erdogan noted that the negotiations on the Russian-Ukrainian war brought positive results, which he called the initiative to create a grain corridor, the exchange of prisoners and the creation of a safe zone around the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
According to Erdogan, he told Putin that international efforts to find ways to peace must be supported primarily by the parties to the conflict.
The Turkish president stressed that the parties should “try to find a fair solution”.
He also told Putin that “calls for peace and negotiations must be supported by a unilateral ceasefire”.
What this means, Erdogan’s press service did not specify. His message did not mention a demand for a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine.
Instead, the Kremlin’s press service reported on the conversation between the two leaders, noting that Vladimir Putin told the Turkish president about Moscow’s readiness for talks, with Kiev “meeting demands that have been voiced repeatedly and take into account the new region.” facts.”
Exactly what “known conditions” we are talking about is not specified. At the start of the full-scale invasion, Putin declared the need to “denazify” and “militarize” Ukraine.
The new territorial realities announced earlier in the Kremlin are the occupation of several parts of Ukraine that occurred after February 24, 2022.
Earlier, Turkish presidential adviser Ibrahim Kalin announced Erdogan’s phone conversations with the presidents of Ukraine and Russia.
It is currently unknown whether Erdogan had a phone conversation with Zelensky.
photographer, Anadolu Company
Turkey’s role
From the first days of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Turkey presented itself as a mediator to end the conflict.
Turkey, which maintains close ties to both Moscow and Kiev, is indeed seen by many as a potential mediator in the Ukrainian conflict. Ankara, the only NATO member not to impose large-scale sanctions on Moscow, will continue to meet with Erdogan Putin.
At the same time, Turkey has directly condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, is supplying Kiev with Piracter combat drones (and plans to open a Ukrainian factory for their production), and has closed the Bosphorus to Russian warships in the Black Sea.
During the months of the Ukrainian war, Erdogan managed to achieve some success as a mediator between the parties. In September, Erdogan’s administration exchanged Putin’s best man, Viktor Medvechuk, for 215 Ukrainian prisoners, including five Azovstal defender commanders.
Before that, Erdogan, along with the UN, launched a party in negotiations to block the export of Ukrainian grain from the country’s southern ports.
Moscow and Kiev agreed to talks in Istanbul, which resulted in the signing of an agreement on the creation of a corridor from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea to Turkey and further destination ports. The contract expires in November 2022 and has been extended.
It can also be noted that at the end of March, one of the many rounds of negotiations between representatives of Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul, in which Volodymyr Medinsky represented Moscow.
In the fall, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the American television channel PBS that he wanted Vladimir Putin (whom he called his “dear friend”) to end the war as soon as possible. They spoke about this at the SCO Summit in Samarkand.
“In Uzbekistan, I met with President Putin and we had very thorough discussions with him. And he really showed me, he showed me that he is ready to put an end to this soon. This is my opinion, because the situation is growing very, very problematic,” the Turkish president said.
